Two arrested, one hospitalized after car break-in

MUNCIE – Authorities say three Marion men picked the wrong time and place to break into a car.

Two of the men, arrested at the scene of the break-in near the Ball State University campus, were arrested. The third alleged participant, meanwhile, ended up unconscious and hospitalized.

At about 3:10 a.m. Thursday, an officer at the Ball State University Police Department heard shouting coming from about two blocks to the east.

He and a colleague drove in that direction, and found Evan Daniel Frantz, 28, “lying in the alley unconscious.”

Witnesses told the officers that two other men at the scene — later identified as Marion residents Tyler Jacob Rose, 23, and Gabriel Allen Helm, 20 — had joined Frantz in breaking into a car parked in the 200 block of North Martin Street.

The witnesses said they saw Frantz and Rose inside the car — with Helm acting as a “lookout” — and shouted at them to leave.

A roommate of the car’s owner then arrived and confronted the Marion men, leading to the shouting heard by the officer. That man then punched Frantz and Rose, according to an affidavit.

Frantz was taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery, according to the report.

Rose and Helm were both arrested on preliminary charges of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication. A theft charge was also lodged against Rose, while Helm was charged with illegal consumption of alcohol.

Rose was convicted of resisting law enforcement in Allen County last year. Helm was charged last September with resisting law enforcement and illegal possession of alcohol in Muncie City Court, but the case was dismissed in January.

A warrant was issued for Frantz’s arrest in April after he failed to appear for City Court hearings stemming from two charges — driving while suspended and failure to stop after an accident — filed against him in February.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.